


RWBY Afterlife Theater

by smearglexd



Category: RWBY
Genre: Afterlife, More characters to be added, Reaction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:14:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29959422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smearglexd/pseuds/smearglexd
Summary: Those who have left Remnant behind get a peek at what happens after they left.
Kudos: 2





	RWBY Afterlife Theater

Rhodes stretched out in the comfort of his bed, his eyes slowly opening to take in the morning light from his bedroom window. Sure, sleep wasn't strictly necessary in the afterlife, but it still felt nice. He climbed out of bed with a yawn, and changed into his regular clothes. After eating breakfast, he stepped out his front door, into his neighbourhood of the past decade.

Or at least, that's where he expected to step into.

Instead of the neighbourhood he was familiar with, Rhodes found himself stepping into what looked like a small movie theater. A little shocked from finding himself in such an unexpected location, he turned to step back into his home, but found the doorway behind him only led to a small foyer with a snack bar, and no discernible exits. Realizing he seemed to be trapped, Rhodes turned back around to analyze the theater. There didn't seem to be any other exits in this room either, but moreover, he noticed he wasn't alone. He saw three other people standing between the seats and the screen, seeming just as confused as he was.

There was a Mistralian man and woman standing beside each other. The man had an intense gaze. His hair was dark with streaks of grey, styled into a short ponytail. He also had a goatee and mustache. He wore a dark green Mistralian tailcoat, and dark grey pants. The woman had a much kinder appearance. She had deep purple hair tied into a bun, and wore a long dress with a similar style to the man, but in a lighter shade of green. They looked to be discussing their current predicament. Rhodes surmised they might be married or related.

The third person was a tough-looking woman standing a bit further from the pair. She appeared to be a Crocodile Faunus, based on her scaled skin. She had a short, black mohawk, and wore a green shirt with a leather corset, and grey striped pants. She notably had a large stopwatch hanging by her hip.

Rhodes began walking towards the group. "Excuse me, but I don't suppose any of you know why we're here?" He asked them.

"Not a clue, we just got here too," the purple-haired woman spoke up.

"I suppose if we're in this together, we should introduce ourselves," the man beside her said, before holding his arm out towards Rhodes for a handshake. "I am Li Ren," Rhodes returned the handshake, "I was a hunter in the village of Kuroyuri. This is my wife, An."

"Pleased to meet you," An greeted, giving Rhodes a short bow.

"I'm Rhodes, I was a Huntsman from Atlas," something about that statement seemed to amuse the Faunus woman, who started quietly chuckling to herself. "Nice to meet you too..." He responded to the Rens, while glancing warily at the other woman. "And who might you be?" He called out to her.

"The name's Tock, love," Tock explained, as she sauntered over to the others, outstretching her hand. As soon as Rhodes went to give her a handshake, Tock gave him an intimidating smirk, revealing a mouth filled with sharp, metal teeth. "And I killed Huntsmen for a living."

Rhodes immediately withdrew his hand, and took a step back in shock, as did the Rens. Seeing this, Tock started howling in laughter. "Relax, mate. We're already dead. Not like I can do anythin' to ya now."

"Still, that doesn't mean I'd want to associate with someone like you," Rhodes growled at her, "You say you killed Huntsmen like it's something to be proud of."

Tock shrugged. "A girl's gotta make a living somehow."

"What sort of person would even pay you for something like that?" Li asked in disgust.

Before Tock could respond, a man's voice started speaking to them. It had no discernable source, seemingly emanating from all around them.

"Greetings to the four of you. You have all been selected for the rare opportunity to observe events happening back down on Remnant. There are refreshments in the foyer, and you will be joined by others in time, but for now, please enjoy the show."

An looked between the different members of the group, unable to find a clear connection between them. "But why us?" She asked the voice, but received no response.

"Meh, don't look a gift horse in the mouth," Tock commented, as she walked up to the third row of seats. She sat down on the aisle seat, putting her legs up on the backrest in front of her, and resting her hands behind her head. "I ain't ever heard of someone up here getting a peek into the land of the living. I feel quite honoured."

The other three looked between each other. Not seeing anything else to do about their situation, they shrugged and sat down. Li and An sat next to each other in the front row, while Rhodes sat a seat over from Li.

"I wonder if we'll get to see what Lie is doing these days," An whispered to her husband.

"We can only hope," Li replied.

As soon as everyone took their seats, the lights dimmed, and the screen flickered to life.

**A figure in a red hood and flowing cloak is seen under the moon and in a snowy landscape, the cape constantly producing dozens of wind-blown rose petals.**

Rhodes leaned forward in his chair. _'Could it be? Cinder?'_

Li noticed the subtle movement. "Do you know her?"

"I'm... not sure. It's hard to tell with the hood up."

"Why'd it stop?" Tock pointed out. Both men turned back to the screen and noticed that it did indeed seem to be paused.

"Perhaps it stops automatically when we're talking?" An suggested. The group stayed quiet for a moment, and sure enough, the footage continued.

**An altar is seen near the edge of the cliff that the person is standing at, who turns and walks away to let the audience see the rose symbol on the marker and the words "Summer Rose - Thus Kindly I Scatter".**

"Hm, Summer Rose. I wonder why she isn't here," An pondered. "Do any of you know a Summer Rose?" Everyone else shook their heads.

**The red-hooded wanderer slowly walks through a snowy forest, where shadowy, beastly shapes quickly dart through.**

Everyone immediately knew what they were seeing.

"Grimm," Li mumbled.

"I hope this girl can defend herself," An said worriedly.

"Personally, I wouldn't mind watching someone get torn limb from limb," Tock quipped. "It's been _way_ too long." Tock grinned at the other three as they glared up at her.

**She arrives at a clearing and looks around at the sight of around a dozen black-coated, red-eyed Beowolves circling their prey. Three decide to dash forward and attack through jumping, but the figure disappears in a swish of rose petals, and the creatures crash to the ground and look up.**

An, Li, and Rhodes let out sighs of relief.

"It isn't who I thought it was," Rhodes mentioned. "I thought it might have been my old... protégé. But this girl has a completely different semblance."

Li nodded. "And if she's unlocked her semblance, I'm sure she's skilled enough to handle herself against a small pack of Beowolves."

**Outlined by the moon's light, her cape swirling around her body, is Ruby.**

As soon as Ruby's face was shown, Tock's eyes widened, and she let out a quiet "Oooh" of realization.

"You recognize her?" An asked the Faunus.

"Hmm, no, not really. But, I think I know why she's important."

"Do you mind filling us in?" Rhodes requested.

"Nah, I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise," Tock teased. "Besides, I suspect you'll all find out soon enough," she finished as she glanced back up at the young girl's silver eyes.

**Ruby reaches behind herself, pulls out a rifle, and fires a shot that blows a large part of a Beowolf's head out in a burst of blood-red smoke.**

Everyone watching jumped from the sudden reveal of Ruby's weapon.

"My goodness, that is a remarkably large weapon for such a young girl," Li remarked.

"What's the matter? Jealous that a little girl is stronger than you are?" An joked, lightly nudging her husband with her elbow. This got a small chuckle from Li.

**More Beowolves start to attack as Ruby lands. She leaps over the first beast and shoots it in the back, then, still in the air, blasts another one's side and gets into a position where she can fire at the third dead center.**

"I see. So that's why she uses such a large gun," Rhodes commented. "While most Huntsmen and Huntresses try to minimize recoil in their weapons, her small size allows her to use it as a propelling force, enabling greater mobility around the battlefield. In combination with her Semblance, which appears to be speed-based, it would allow her to be a fast and mobile fighter, without sacrificing power," he explained.

**She rolls back and stands, unfolding Crescent Rose into its larger - and deadlier - scythe form.**

Tock shudders. "That brings back some bad memories. I was killed by a scythe-wielder. Though her scythes weren't nearly as impressive as this one."

Suddenly, something clicked in Tock's mind. _'Silver eyes. Uses a scythe. Could she be related to the Grimm Reaper? Surely it couldn't just be a coincidence. It might explain why I'm here.'_

**One of the braver Beowolves goes forward, but Ruby merely spins, hooks its body in the curve of her blade, smiles at the camera as the monster growls, and fires the sniper section at speeds that sever the creature's body in a shower of petals. Both halves land on the ground, continuing to bleed roses, and the rest of the pack charges.**

"Hm, confident," Rhodes noted. "She's clearly very skilled for her age."

"I like her style. Make sure your enemies know you're not scared of them. Sure it doesn't matter against Grimm, but it's still a good habit to get into," Tock explained.

**Ruby, rotating the weapon, unloads her spent bullet and drives the blade into the ground, firing from a single spot at several approaching monsters.**

"Ah, I was wondering if she had a way to reduce recoil," Rhodes said. "As useful as the speed boost might be, it could've made it very difficult to aim."

**A Beowolf swipes at her feet, narrowly missing as she jumps up with Crescent Rose and blasts back, digging it into the ground again when she sees more creatures emerging from the woods.**

Li's eyes widened. "That's an awful lot of Beowolves. As skilled as she is, even she may get overwhelmed by that many."

"I reckon I could take them," Tock spoke up. "How 'bout you, Rhodes?"

"Most likely, but it would certainly be a struggle for someone who isn't a pro Huntsmen. I think this girl would be wise to retreat."

**A Beowolf almost gets her with its claws, but she twists out of the way, fires at the monster in front of her to make the weapon and wielder spin, and kicks at the one behind her. She twirls the scythe and cuts down Beowolves from both sides, dodging another attack to hook a beast in and blast out at an approaching creature to kill both.**

**Ruby leaps over two, goes in to dismember and cut down one, and catches another's neck in her blade with her on the beast's back before pulling the trigger and beheading it while flying upwards. Two Beowolves follow, but she shoots her way down and slices them up when she has to block from a wolf's swipe on the ground, which pushes her back and lets her see the large number of enemies left.**

"Jeez, maybe I couldn't handle all that," Tock confessed. "My semblance would run out well before I made it through all them."

"What was your semblance?" Rhodes asked.

"Invulnerability. I could make myself invincible for 60 seconds, but it uses up all of my aura."

"I could turn my skin into metal. I still think I could defeat all those Bewolves, but it would be a struggle."

"What about you, dear? Do you think you could defeat all those Grimm?" An asked her husband, with a cheeky smile on her face.

Li sighed, but couldn't help but smile at his wife's impishness. "You know I'm no Huntsman. I wouldn't stand a chance," he admitted.

**Nodding, Ruby drops her previous cartridge, inserts another with a cross symbol.**

"Gravity dust," Rhodes noted. "She must be going all-in on speed."

**She loads it in, and blasts off at a higher speed than ever before, coming at the dumbfounded Beowolves like a rocket when she converts the scythe to a sickle-shape and spins her way through the mass, cutting up and down, left and right, leaving bullets, rose petals, and blackened body parts flying into the air. She disembowels them quicker and quicker until the last one falls, she blasts into a jump, and lands in a pose with her scythe hanging behind her as bullets rain from the sky.**

"Huh, she didn't use them," Tock mumbled.

"Use what?" Li asked.

"Sorry, still not sayin'. I imagine if we keep watching, you'll see what I'm talkin' about sooner or later."

Meanwhile, Rhodes was left a little speechless. "How old is this girl? I've known pro Huntsmen less skilled than that," he muttered.

"Tock, out of curiousity, do you think you'd be able to handle someone like that?" An asked.

Tock leaned back and thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I think so."

"Are you sure? With her speed, she could easily keep away from you until your semblance ran out," Rhodes retorted.

"You're assuming she'd know what my semblance is. She can attack from a distance, but she seems to prefer gettin' up close. That'd gimme a chance to counterattack, and secure the kill," Tock emphasised the statement with a menacing grin. "Besides, I always fight with my trusty crew at my side. They'd make gettin' away a lot more difficult."

"Hm, right," Rhodes said as he turned away, growing uncomfortable with the topic. "Let's continue."

"Aww, so soon? I could also explain how I'd go about killin' you, if you want," Tock said with a chuckle, but Rhodes just chose to ignore her. Tock simply shrugged and turned her attention back to the screen.

**Author's Note:**

> The episode transcripts are from the RWBY Wiki, with some slight edits to fit the context of it being actual events, rather than a show, and also to fit the flow of this story.
> 
> I didn't include the Madame, or Cinder's step-sisters, since none of them ever actually got a name (And also because I don't want to). Naturally, I'm not gonna include any other nameless characters either.


End file.
